Payson DECA students won 23 individual awards at the Arizona DECA State Conference held March 4-6 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Downtown Phoenix. Thirty-two Payson Chapter members competed in the conference that was attended by almost 2,000 students from 102 high schools from around the state of Arizona.

The following 10 students earned the right to attend the International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in late April by placing in the top five in their events. Winning first-place trophies were Nick McMullen, Jordyn Fruth and Kayla Percell. Dillon Walker won a second-place trophy and winning third-place trophies were Eric Vohs, Tanner Hintze, Hannah Dalgai and Courtney Dyer. Karen Williams and Natalie Moceri won fifth-place trophies. Many of the above students also won awards for individual events.

Students who won awards for the state written test included Laura Slatalla, Justice Owens and Arianna Paulson. Natalie Moceri and Tyler Croy won first-place medallions for individual role plays. An outstanding effort was put in by the whole chapter, as many other students had outstanding personal individual events.

Joe Parone, the Payson DECA advisor and marketing program coordinator was extremely pleased with the results and efforts of all the chapter members. He felt the results highlighted the efforts of all Payson High School faculty, parents and the Payson community. Parone was also honored at the state conference when he was presented with the 2012 Arizona DECA Rising Star award for his dedication and excellence in Arizona DECA for the past four years.

At the conference, Jordyn Fruth received her certificate to be an Arizona DECA state officer, which has a membership of more than 6,000 students.